Analysts Say Facebook Introduced ISIS Terrorists to Each Other Through ‘Suggested Friends’ Feature

The social media giant Facebook has helped connect thousands of Islamic State terrorists with other potential jihadis across the globe via its “suggested friends” feature, a watchdog group has warned.

The Counter Extremism Project, a nonprofit dedicated to countering terrorism-related support networks, conducted a study to be released later this month on how jihadis are using Facebook to recruit potential comrades and spread extremist ideologies.

According to The Telegraph, the study analyzed the Facebook accounts of over 1,000 IS (also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) supporters in 96 countries and analyzed various posts designed to radicalize their targets.

The study concludes that Facebook administrators are not doing enough to tackle the extremism that is found and facilitated using the platform.

“This project has laid bare Facebook’s inability or unwillingness to efficiently address extremist content on their site,” Gregory Waters, one of the authors of the report, told The Telegraph. “The failure to effectively police its platform has allowed Facebook to become a place where extensive IS supporting networks exist, propaganda is disseminated, people are radicalised and new supporters are recruited.”

As Facebook strives to use algorithms to bring people with common interests closer together, the researchers found that Facebook users with radical Islamist views or leanings were regularly suggested to become friends with one another by the platform.

“Facebook, in their desire to connect as many people as possible have inadvertently created a system which helps connect extremists and terrorists,” researcher Robert Postings told the United Kingdom-based outlet.